The jury is still out on whether African universities should ignore international university rankings or create their own, but senior academics and administrators agree there’s room for improvement, particularly on sensitivity to the relationship between size and density of a university and research output.

Quality university education in Africa should include innovative pedagogies that highlight active learning and increase the prospects of transfer of learning from the university to the larger society. Too often learning does not teach students the skills they need in the outside world.

South Africa’s National Research Foundation and the public benefit organisation FirstRand Foundation have joined forces to create a sabbatical programme aimed at boosting research capacity among black African academics, and academics with disabilities.